Chasing the Rabbit
by OZONE SNIPER
Summary: When the 501st is tasked with creating an elite pilot without the skills of a witch Malcolm Campbell is pulled into the position and undergoes the training to become an ace pilot all while attempting to befriend and challenge Charlotte Yeager for her speed record.
1. Racing An Indian

Chasing the rabbit chapter 1

The wind slowly carries grains of salt across the flat land that streaches on for miles. On the right the sky touches the land in the distance, on the left the same. It is peaceful deep in the Bonneville salt flats, but that peace will quickly turn to chaos. In the distance stands a crowd of people all awaiting a grand event surely to amaze. In the midst of the group is a large stage, hastily set up, where an announcer is handed a microphone. The people quickly turn to see what he has to say, men with large Polaroid cameras assist journalists attempting to get a scoop for their daily paper.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention" The announcer says, standing before the crowd as the come to a silence to hear his words.

"I am happy to see such a great turn out for what is to be one of the most amazing things you will ever witness in your lives!" He says as the people begin to stir with excitement.

"Today I am glad to announce that we have a boy attempting to break the land speed record set here not long ago!" The announcer said as the crowd begins to talk among themselves. Some in the crowd laugh out loud as they see this to be impossible.

"Now lets not all jump on the kid, I say he's got spunk! It's not like every average joe can compete with the Glamours Shirley, who sadly is overseas defending our cans and can't attend to defend her title. A record only a true grease monkey like her could obtain through blood, sweat, and tears. That's right people! I think I recognize some of you from that faithful day when our Liberion girl, Charlotte Yeager, set the land speed record of 205.83 miles per hour!" The man said as the crowd was whipped into a frenzy.

"A record, I might add, that was broken in her modified Indian scout motorcycle! That! Which I might add! Only averaged about 55 mph unmodified! Now that's a pretty far leap! Am I right folks!" The man said as the people went wild recalling the amazement that was Charlotte Yeager.

"Now settle down folks. Lets get back to why were here. This kid ain't no push over, hell, just like our girl Yeager he built his ride from the ground up." He said pointing to a tarp that covered something resembling the shape of an automobile.

"And this kid has broken some speed records, I got them listed here seeing as we probably haven't heard of them." The man said as he searched through his pocket to find a crumpled piece of paper. He opened it and had to look at it for a few seconds, this being the first time he actually read the records he was surprised and impressed.

"Well it says here the boy is sixteen years old, knew he was young... Set his first speed record when he was thirteen... With a speed of 146 mph. Then he went on to break that record, topping it by four miles per hour. Then again the next year hitting an astonishing 165. He went on to top that by another three miles faster... " the man said slowly. The people were astonished as to how many times the boy had held a record. The man continued.

"He held the record for the worlds fastest male and person until recently, when A racer beat his record, now holding it at 174.32 miles per hour. Afterwords Shirley blew them both out of the water with her Indian run. Looks like the kid not only lost worlds fastest person, but worlds fastest male as well, all in the same year. Sounds like the worst kind of luck." The man said trying to make a joke but the crowd was silent. They knew they were in for something special after hearing how hard this boy was working for this record. They didn't care what the man had to say anymore they wanted to see the boy make his run. The reporters quickly wrote down information as they were told it, they all had a feeling that this was going to be the morning headline. The people were restless and so where the reporters until one put down her note pad and had the sense to ask the most important question. The woman raised her a hand and made herself seen.

"Are we going to get a name, ya know, of this driver? We only came out here because we heard there would be an attempt at the record. I have a feeling this kid has a good shot. But no one told us a name." The woman asked.

"Oh... Ah... Yes! The wait is over, allow me to introduce to you... Ah." The man quickly reached into his other pocket and fished out another crumpled pice of paper. He quickly read it off trying not to break his sentence.

"Malcolm! Campbell!"

Upon hearing this a boy waiting in a makeshift garage with two mechanics finishes lacing his boots.

"Sounds like I'm on" the boy said with a smile.

"Don't embarrass yourself up there Malcolm." One of the mechanics jokes as he runs off towards the stage. The crowed claps as he walks up the steps and takes the microphone from the announcer. The crowd finally has a chance to see who is challenging Shirley's record, the boy had dark black hair that was combed back. He wore a white jumpsuit beneath his brown leather jacket and was also wearing white boots, now stained yellow around the bottom from the dirt of the salt flats. The only thing that wasn't white was his deep blue tie that could be seen beneath the collar of his jumpsuit along with a white dress shirt. The boy appeared to be very confident in front of the people as he held the microphone to speak.

"Hello..." He said as that confidence quickly fades and the boy doesn't know exactly what to say to the people as they all wait for something out of him. After a few seconds he sees the mechanics run over to the tarp and grab it. He remembered exactly what to say to the people then.

"My name is Malcolm Campbell. Today I intend to break the land speed record in my modified creation." He said as the mechanics pull away the tarp revealing a stunning and sleek motor vehicle. It's long, aerodynamic body stretches along before coming to the windshield and then continues to the tail. It's large tires look like shields as their chrome gleams in the bright sunlight. From the sides stick exhausts that have been blackened from use. The entire car is exhilarating to look at and it's blue paint job and small Britannian flag make it pleasant as well.

"This, my friends, is the blue bird." Malcolm said walking over to the vehicle. One of the mechanic tosses him a pair of goggles as he makes his way to the cockpit of this missile on wheels. The people hurry around him as he takes his seat. All whispering to each other and looking on with amazement.

"I came all the way out here from Brittania with one goal in mind, to be the fastest man alive, but that soon wasn't enough." Malcolm said as he put the goggles on.

"I lost my place because, although I was once the fastest man alive, I have to be the fastest human alive." Malcolm said as he started the blue bird's engine. With a roar the salt around the car started to kick up. Men grabbed their hats and women held their skirts down as the blue bird started to explode with power. The people quickly moved back giving Malcolm room to start his run. Malcolm looked over the various gauges in front of him to make sure his vehicle was ready to race. Looking to his left the mechanics had a device that would calculate his speed. He gave them a thumbs up and they returned it. Malcolm was ready to let lose.

Malcolm took off from the crowed and roared down across the flats. Within seconds he was pushing one hundred. The wind ripped around him as all he heard was the sound of his engine pushing harder and harder. Malcolm was soon approaching 160 as he shifted the car and it picked up faster.

"Come on baby! You can do it, just a little more! Push!" He shouted to himself, almost unable to hear himself over all the sound around him. The dirt behind him formed a large cloud that trailed behind him. Malcolm reached 175 and the people cheered when they heard the news. Malcolm had reclaimed his record as the fastest man alive. The people were happy but surprised to see the speedometer was still slowly going higher.

"What is he doing, he broke the record, he can stop." One mechanic said.

"He's not done. He's going to push for her record, no matter how far it might be." The other said.

"Can the blue bird take that?" The mechanic asked.

"Don't ask me. I didn't build it, the only person that knows a thing about that vehicle is speeding down the flats at..." He stopped to look down at the speedometer in front of him, then finished.

"179 miles per hour."

Malcolm felt the wind continue to hit the blue bird harder and harder. Grains of salt made audible knocking sounds as they hit against the body of the vehicle. A tole was being taken on the blue bird, its tires were being worn out and the paint was visible chipping from the battery of salt and rocks. It all went to hell when black smoke began to bellow from the exhausts. Malcolm looked at his speed with defeat as he knew it was over. The sound of the engines pain was all he could listen to as the car slowed down and came to a halt.

"Damn... DAMN!" Malcolm said getting out of the the car and throwing his goggles on the ground. He picked up a rock and threw it as far as he could as he tried to blow off steam.

The people saw the black smoke in the distance and expected the worst as they hurried to see what had happened. They arrived in their own cars to see Malcolm sitting on top of the blue bird's hood deep in thought. The announcer runs up to him and shakes his hand.

"Congratulations! You did it! You beat the record! You are the fastest man alive! What are you going to do now?" The man asked Malcolm as he gave the crowed a glance.

"I'm going to become faster" was all he said as the mechanics hitched up the blue bird to take back to the garage.

* * *

The next day In Brittania a group of top brass officers sit in a dimly lit room, across from them a girl with red hair stands at attention. The girl was wearing a green uniform and red panties along with dark boots. She was none other than the esteemed commander of the 501st joint fighter wing, commander Minna.

"Do you know why you are here commander?" One of the men asked.

"No sir. I was surprised you would call me out here like this, is something unfolding along the front lines I was not already aware of?" Minna asked the men.

"Not at all. the war effort, though a tough one, is still stable at the moment. We called you here for a special assignment." The man said.

"What kind of assignment." Minna asked.

"You see. As witches you are trained to combat the Neuroi along side normal fighters. The men do the best they can but lately fatalities in engagements has skyrocketed." He said.

"It is hard for normal pilots to stay air born during a Neuroi engagement. They do not have the capability to create shields, making them a prime target." Minna said.

"That is exactly why we want you and your elite unit to take on this task" another man said.

"What 'task' do you refer to?" Minna asked.

"We want you to prove that a pilot can be turned into an elite Neuroi killer. Make someone who isn't a burden to have in combat or Neuroi fodder. We need a pilot, hell, even better, start from the ground up. Find an average guy and turn him into the pilot that can fly others into victory and not their death." The man said.

"What!?" Minna said.

"Good thinking, this will be a great moral boost to the troops and may even bring the tide of this war to our favor" another general said.

"Unless you have a problem with our decision, commander" another general said.

"Uh... Not at all sir" Minna said tightening up and standing straight once again.

"Good. You can pick up the file on the way out, and... Don't let us down. Dismissed" the man said with a smile.

Minna sat on a wooden bench in the hall of the building with the paper work on her lap. She held her face in her hands as she sighed. She hadn't even looked at the papers yet and knew this was going to be a hard task.

"As if commanding the unit wasn't hard enough. I need to find some random guy to pick up and turn into some super pilot. What do say 'hey! You look like a guy that can take hard core training! Ever piloted a fighter? No? That's great! Lets go!'" Minna said to herself as adjusts her voice to truly bring out its sarcasm. She doesn't notice that one of the buildings secretaries is around the corner listening to her crazy rant. Minna stops what she's doing when she sees a head poke around the wall with a look that only a crazy person would get. When the secretary walks away minna puts her chin against her fist and sighs once again. Her cheeks red from the situation.

"That was embarrassing. But what dose she know. She doesn't have to find a man who doesn't fear death and ask him to pick up and join the strike witches." Minna said as her gaze falls upon a news paper sitting on the bench on the other side of the hallway. The person who was last sitting there must have left it by mistake. Picking it up Minna sees it has a headline from Liberion. Minna reads it to herself out loud.

"Boy breaks land speed record still won't stop? What's this?" She says ash she looks over the article.

"Malcolm Campbell raced at Bonneville yesterday and broke the land speed record, good for him." She said looking at the photo that accompanied the article. The photo showed a boy she presumed to be the Malcolm she was reading about leaning against a smoking contraption. His face was covered in ash except for where his goggles covered his eyes. Even though he was blackened Minna could see a little bit of charm in him from the way he presented himself.

"So what is he chasing?" She asked herself reading more.

"Malcolm is determined to be not only the fatest man alive but the fastest person alive, the only way to do that is by beating the fastest woman alive, a record held by ace pilot Charlotte E Yeager." Minna says as it catches her attention that Yeager came up in the paper.

"This may be what I'm looking for" Minna said continuing.

"In a quote from Campbell he proclaims 'I'm ready to lay down my life in the name of speed. I only wish I could go head to head against the Glamorous Shirley herself'" Minna read as she jumped up from the bench, spilling the papers onto the ground.

"Yes! Oh crap!" Minna said as she quickly bent over to pick them up. She she did a man approached her. She recognized him as her personal pilot.

"Ma'am" he said saluting her.

"Yes soldier?" Minna asked grabbing the last of the papers and sticking them in the file. She rips the front page from the paper and puts the rest back.

"Are you ready to return to base?" He asks as she looks at the torn newspaper article and then at him.

"How long until we can be in Utah?" She asked.

"Uh... Utah? Ma'am?" The man asked in return as she walked past him.

"Yes. The Bonneville salt flats to be exact." Minna replied.

* * *

Night had fallen after a long day of work in the makeshift garage that sat in the middle of nowhere. It had been more than a day since the run and Malcolm was still repairing blue bird. The crowed had completely disappeared by now and the mechanics were getting ready to leave as well.

"Malcolm, we gotta go. They say a sand storm is blowing in tonight. If we don't get out now we might get caught in it on our way home." The mechanic said.

"Alright. Thanks for your help getting blue bird back here." He said, shoulder deep inside of the cars hood.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride back. It gets really cold at night out here. You should give it a rest." The man said.

"Listen, buddy, I'm fine by myself. Go on, I will probably work till morning anyway so that storm won't be a problem if I'm in here where it's safe. And the cold doesn't bother me much." He smiled.

"Alright. If you say so." He said closing the door behind him. Malcolm listened as he heard their car turn on and drive off into the distance. He waited for a few more seconds and then closed the blue bird's bonnet.

"I thought they would never leave. I finished fixing her hours ago." Malcolm said grabbing his goggles of the chair next to him and opening a large door that the Blue Bird could exit through. He looks out across the salt flats and sees a large cloud of sand move across the vast emptiness.

"What better first test than a wind storm." Malcolm said as he grabbed some filters to put over the exhausts. He releases the break and pushes the blue bird through the door and out into the flats. It's light body makes it easy to move. Malcolm jumps behind the wheel and starts it up once again. The car roars as its motor pulsates through the vehicle. Malcolm shivers as it hums and vibrates his body.

"It's good to hear you again." Malcolm says as he presses down on the gas and the car takes off towards the storm. The clouds bellow with sand and dust as it rips across the flats. Malcolm was hitting a relatively low speed as he entered the vortex. Soon he was being battered by the sand. Dipping his head for protection he refused to slow down. He shifted to go faster , then again as he began to reach the speed he stopped at earlier.

"Damn, she's topping off, I need more power." He yelled to himself as he blew through the thick sand storm. The opposite end of the storm was close as he saw the moon light coming through. Malcolm broke through the thick screen of sand and found himself on the other side, the moon lit up the dark flats beautifully as Malcolm took in the sight. Although he wasn't any closer to breaking the record he was at least enjoying himself once again. Malcolm snapped back to reality when he saw something coming up fast in front of him. The object wasn't moving, he was flying towards it. Malcolm threw down the break and turned out of the way. At such a high speed it was amazing that the blue bird didn't turn over from the sudden change in direction. Malcolm spun out but managed to avoid the object. When the car came to a halt Malcolm was only a few yards from what he was heading towards. He was surprised do see a girl with red hair was protecting herself with her arms in front of her. Her eyes were wide open and she had a shocked look on her face as she stared at a Malcolm who returned the silent look. Malcolm was surprised to see a large shield of blue energy had formed at the girls fingers. He quickly deduced she was a witch but he had no idea what she was doing out in the middle of the salt flats alone.

"Are you crazy!" Malcolm shouted at the shocked witch as her shield disappeared.

" I could have been killed by that shield, or even worst, you could have been killed if your shield didn't hold!" Malcolm shouted.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't think... anyone would be... driving out here" the girl said as she dropped to her knees. The whole ordeal had been a lot for her, she then fell onto her side.

"Ah! Come on. Don't do this out here" Malcolm said getting out of blue bird to check on her. The girl had fallen unconscious. Malcolm looked around and saw that there really wasn't a person with her. Looking behind him he sees the sand storm is moving in on them. He puts his arm beneath her legs and back and picks her up. As he dose he sees she is waring a green military uniform, although he doesn't know the rank she holds her uniform looks like it would belong to someone high up.

"We gotta get you somewhere safe." He said running over to the blue bird. He sits down with her on his lap. The blue bird was built to seat only one person because he never expected to have passengers.

"Crap. This storm will beat down on you... Here" he said putting the goggles he was wearing on the girl to protect her. He turned the vehicle around and headed straight through the storm. It was the quickest way back to the garage and that was the safest place for miles. As they drove thought the storm the girls eyes opened for a brief second. She was conscious long to see the boy defending himself from the raging sands as he tried to control the car. She then fell unconscious once again.

Within a short time Malcolm arrived back at the garage and closed it down completely. Locking out the storm and keeping the two safe. Malcolm layer out some blankets that were living around to crate a makeshift bed to put the girl down on. Malcolm say her uniform had become covered with dust as well as her hair and face. he removed her jacket, the girl had a white shirt on underneath so Malcolm did not have to find her a change of cloths. He took time to clean her face and hair with water that was stored there. After half an hour she began to come through as Malcolm finished cleaning her.

"What happened" she asked sitting up and holding her head.

"Thank goodness, I though you would never come around" Malcolm said with concern.

"Did I faint? Why are you holding my head?" She asked.

"You did faint. I almost hit you with my car. And you got dusty from the storm so I thought I would-" Malcolm said before he was pushed away by the girl as she got up.

"I never said I needed you to clean me" she said sternly. She looked about herself.

"And my jacket?" she asked

"Right here" he said holding it out to her.

"You know it's polite to thank people who save you from sand storms." He said as she grabbed the jacket from him.

"Not if there the person who put you in that situation. Now I need to go. I'm looking for someone."

"Good luck! That storm is right on top of us. No way you are getting out of here until morning." Malcolm said taking a seat and kicking his boots up on the table. The girl looked at him with anger but sighed swing as it would be pointless to continue this debate. She took a seat as well and sat in silence. The quietness lasted for a while, neither one wished to talk until Malcolm asked a question.

"You... Said you were looking for someone?" Malcolm asked.

"If you must know, I'm looking for a boy named Malcolm Campbell. Here is his photo." She said pulling out a torn newspaper article. Before she hands it to him she looks at it. Then at the boy. Then at the car on the other side of the garage. Then back at the photograph.

"You can't be serious." The girl says to herself.

"Uh... I'm Malcolm Campbell." He said sitting up in his chair. Minna immediately stood up.

"I'm so sorry for my rudeness! Please forgive me!" She said.

"What's this about" Malcolm asked.

"I... Need you to help me... Well the witches in general. We need to train a pilot to be able to fight as well as a witch. We found you, a fearless young driver, and thought you fit the spot." The girl said.

"What! You want me to risk my head to do what? Prove men can fight as well as witches? I'm sorry... Uh i didn't catch your name" Malcolm said.

" I am Wing Commander Minna Dietlinde Wilcke Of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. And you haven't heard what I have to offer yet" minna said desperately trying to turn him around.

"I don't think you can say anything that can change my mind. I can't be a pilot." Malcolm said.

"But your teacher will be Charlotte Yeager!" Minna shouted as her final plan to get him on board.

"What did you say..." Malcolm said nervously.

"I am the squad leader. Yeager is in my squad. I can assign her to train you. You can get your race with her. We both win." Minna said clenching her hands hopping this will win him over.

"I... I guess I have to take that offer." Malcolm said quietly.


	2. A Mix up

A trail of dust follows close behind a large green truck as it dashes down a dirt road. The camouflage tarp covering its cargo flows in the wind as the truck hits bumps. Every rock and pothole the vehicle runs over causes its tires to lift from the ground and the occupants of the vehicle to lift from their seats. For a brief moment the two girls inside of the truck are lifted into the air only to be held down by their seatbelts. The two are then suddenly shot down back into their seats. The seats were already uncomfortable for the passenger of the truck, and now having slammed her butt into it was not feeling any better. The girl sitting in the passenger seat was rubbing her thigh as she tried to ease the pain.

"Shirley, do you think we could slow down?" The brown haired girl shouted over the roar of the engine as they hit another bump. Again the girl was lifted from her seat and quickly thrown back down.

"Come on Yoshika, we need to get these supplies back to the base. And I love going fast down these roads, you can really push the trucks speed" She shouted back as her orange hair whips around thanks to the wind flowing through the open window. After saying this she grips the steering wheel with her left hand and grabs the shifter with her left. Pressing down on the clutch she shifts the truck into a higher gear and it begins to go even faster. Yoshika grips her seat belt and squeezes it as hard as she can.

"Why do I always agree to come with you" Yoshika shouts and closes her eyes. Before she knows it she hears the engine become quieter. Yoshika slowly peeks to see the truck had begun to slow down as it goes around curves. She looks over at Shirley to see that her hair was very messed up and she was casually driving with a smile on her face. Yoshika breathed a sigh of relief as she sunk into her seat.

"Thanks for slowing down" Yoshika said as they pulled around bends.

"I only slowed down because these turns can't be made by this thing at such high speeds unless you want to flip it. I think Minna would get mad if I did that again." Shirley laughed as they drove over a hill and saw the base in the horizon. The large building was like a castle on the water, its runway extended from its side bringing a modern touch to its classic look.

"You sure know a lot about cars, I have been learning a lot about my striker unit but haven't learned a thing about car engines. You can take a car apart and put it back together, I don't think I can change a tire" Yoshika laughed as they approached the base.

"Don't worry about that, you are a good pilot. I'll teach you about cars someday. It'll be fun" Shirley said as they drove through the gateway and towards the hanger. She drove the car into the hanger and came to a stop deep inside of it. The two opened the doors and stepped out of the car, slamming them behind them. Francesca came running to see her friend followed slowly behind by Captain Barkhorn.

"Shirley! You're back!" Francesca shouted as she jumped into her friend's arms.

"Hey, sorry we had to leave you behind. We couldn't find you this morning" Shirley told the girl who didn't want to admit she had spent the morning hiding in a tree to avoid running laps. Barkhorn quickly corrected that.

"She thought she was cleaver enough to skip out on this morning's training, but she would have to wake up a lot earlier to fool me" Barkhorn said proudly.

"She made me run extra laps" Francesca cried.

"Well if you followed the rules you wouldn't have had to do that" Barkhorn scolded back.

"Alright, alright you two." Shirley said as she walks to the back of the truck and opens the tail gate. Yoshika hands her the paperwork from the delivery and she looks over the boxes.

"Has Commander Minna returned yet? We need to give her this paper work." Yoshika asked.

"She should be arriving soon." Barkhorn said.

"Why did she have to leave so suddenly?" Francesca asked.

"She didn't say. I don't think she even knew what command was calling her down for." Barkhorn replied as she heard a slight hum in the distance. She walked over to the entrance of the hanger and saw a dark object approaching from the horizon.

"That's her now" Yoshika said as the others walked over to where Barkhorn was waiting.

* * *

Aboard the plane

Malcolm fixed his gaze out the window of the aircraft as they approached the base. He was beginning to feel nervous as the plane began to descend towards the runway. It dropped its landing gears and its tires touched down on the long tar mat. Minna stood up when the aircraft came to a halt and walked over to Malcolm. His gaze was broken and he looked up at the girl.

"Stand up" she said and Malcolm quickly followed orders.

"This will have to be a quick crash lesson. You will need to be presentable when you meet the others." She said as she straightened his tie.

"Presentable?" Malcolm asked

"Captain Yeager needs to see you as someone who is worth her time. When you see her you will address her as Captain. You will refer to the others by their rank unless otherwise instructed" Minna said to him sternly.

"And I refer to you as?" Malcolm asked.

"Commander" She said not breaking her tone.

"Alright, I think I get it" Malcolm responded. Minna walked over to the door of the plane and turned its handle.

"Just try to stand up straight and don't get distracted by Captain Yeager. I can understand you are a fan of hers but you are here to learn from her, not to get an autograph." She said opening the door, allowing the light to pour into the airplane. The two step down the ladder onto the runway. Malcolm follows Minna towards the hanger but stops behind her as they approach the girls waiting in the doorway.

"She's back, but who is that guy with her?" Yoshika asked as she saw the boy stop far behind Minna. Barkhorn approached the commander and shook her hand.

"Good to see you are back safe commander. I suspect your meeting went well, we did not expect you to make a side stop in Liberion." Barkhorn said as Minna smiled to her friend.

"Yes, it was a little out of the way. I will explain everything in time. Ah Shirley, just who I wanted to see." Minna said looking past Barkhorn and waving over the Liberion officer.

"What do you need commander?" Shirley asked.

"This may be a little sudden but I would like to introduce Sergeant Campbell of the RAF." She said turning around to see Malcolm was far behind her. She ran over and pulled the stiff boy over quickly, he dragged his feet along the ground trying to prevent his motion. She puts him front and center between her and Shirley. Malcolm is finally face to face with the person he had been trying to beat for so long and couldn't say a word.

"uh… hi I'm-" Malcolm stuttered out finally before Minna elbowed him in the side. He looks at her to see she is shooting him an angry look and it reminds him of what she just told him. Malcolm salutes the Captain and stands at attention.

"Sergeant Campbell of the RAF. Ma'am" Malcolm shouted as Shirley laughed and patted his head.

"At ease kid, at ease." Shirley said, Malcolm was confused by how unlike a captain the captain was acting but he did put his arm down. Minna just shook her head and rubbed her temple in annoyance. She only had a few hours to teach him the basics of being a soldier and he was already messing things up, Shirley wasn't helping either.

"So what is this about?" Shirley asked.

"He is your student now." Minna said.

"woah! What?" Shirley shouted.

"Command has ordered this fighter wing to train an elite pilot. Create a neuroi killer out of a regular civilian. I believe you will be the best for showing him the ropes seeing as you have a background in not only piloting striker units but also modern aircrafts." Minna explained.

"Wait! Sure I may be able to teach him to fly but there is no way I can teach him to fight the neuroi. That's a whole different thing!" She said pulling Minna aside so Malcolm couldn't hear what they were discussing.

"Come on Minna, This kid is going to get killed. How can command pull him into this? I don't want this on my conscience" Shirley said.

"Captain Yeager, This is not your choice. And command did not pull him into this. I chose him for this mission." Minna shot back.

"Why him?" Shirley said looking over her shoulder at the boy who was now talking with the others.

"He's a dare devil like you. He races cars like you. You'll get along fine, it won't even be like you are his teacher." Minna said as Shirley crossed her arms.

"So he's a racer, is it a name I would know?" Shirley asked.

"Does the face ring a bell?" Minna asked.

"No, never seen him before, but he's young so he could have come up when I was over here." Shirley responded.

"His name is Malcolm." Minna said.

"Malcolm Campbell?" Shirley said as she took a moment to think to herself. "Never heard of him. *Sigh*, I guess there is no arguing this to you, I accept the mission" She said as they begin to walk back over to the group.

"Alright Malcolm, from now on I'm taking you under my wing." She said extending her hand to the boy. Malcolm reaches out and shakes it.

"Thank you Captain" Malcolm said as she waves for him to follow her into the hanger.

"You can lose the formalities Campbell. I'm not as up tight as the commander." She said.

"Alright. Sounds like something I can get behind" Malcolm said.

"So have you ever piloted an aircraft before?" Shirley asked him.

"No. I just became part of the air force a few hours ago." He admitted.

"We have a lot to go over. But you do drive well? Correct?" Shirley asked.

"Yes! I am a good driver. I can do that. I'm actually relived you knew that" Malcolm said. He was worried that Shirley did not know who he was.

"Maybe we can have a race some time?" Malcolm asked.

"Sorry, I don't race amateurs, Better not waste the gas on it" Shirley said as they approached the truck.

"Alright. Seeing that we don't have anything for you to fly yet you stay here and unpack this truck. I'll head to the Commanders office and fill out the paperwork to get you a proper fighter. Those crates are a bit heavy, you can ask Barkhorn for some help if you need it. She can take you to my room when you are done. I'll probably be through the paperwork and waiting for you there." She said walking through the doors and leaving him with Captain Barkhorn who had been following close behind.

"But… I'm not an amateur" Malcolm said in a depressed tone but she was already gone.

"Man that was harsh. I don't think she meant it kid. She doesn't like thinking before she speaks" Barkhorn said. Malcolm didn't respond. He was clearly deep in intense thought as he lifted the heavy crates.

"Let me give you some help with that" Barkhorn said.

"I have to refuse that Captain. I'll do this on my own." Malcolm said.

"But why, it will be so much faster if I help." She said.

"Because Commander Minna said I need to be worth Captain Yeager's time. Clearly she doesn't see me as that. I have to prove that I'm no amateur." He said as he put the box down against the wall. Barkhorn just watched as time went by and Malcolm continued to move the boxes. She didn't leave just in case something happened and he hurt himself. When he was finished Barkhorn patted him on the back.

"You are pretty headstrong kid. Let's get you to Yeager's room." Barkhorn said and promptly escorted him down the halls of the base. They came to the door of her room and Barkhorn pushed it open.

"Took you a while. I thought you were helping him, Barkhorn." Shirley said.

"He didn't want any help. I'm going to get some dinner. You two wrap up here and come down." Barkhorn said as she leaves the room.

"I filled out the paper work for a fighter for you. I will teach you how to fly a mustang because I have the most knowledge of that aircraft. How does that sound" She asked him.

"Sounds good. I look forward to it" Malcolm said.

"Malcolm, take a seat. I need to ask you something" She said patting the bed.

"What's up" he asked sitting next to the girl.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this. It can be very dangerous trying to fly with us. We are constantly in combat. You can easily die." Shirley said.

"Don't worry about me. I chose to come here on my own. Minna gave me an offer I couldn't refuse." Malcolm said.

"What was that offer?" She asked.

"It's…" Malcolm was about to say when he remembered her saying she doesn't race amateurs. It echoed over and over in his mind.

"Nothing… never mind" He said looking down.

"Alright. I guess you have the spirit for the job. I'm not going to go easy on you though. Tomorrow we will start your training. Even though you don't have a fighter we can start getting some laps in and I'll teach you about aircraft controls." She said.

"Alright, sounds good" He said as she got up.

"I'll meet you down in the dining room. Your bag is already here in my room. You can sleep here since we don't have any other open rooms. Unpack when you get the chance. And… Welcome to the team." She said but Malcolm just nodded. She closed the door behind her and walked away.

"Yeah… welcome to the team." He mumbled to himself before dragging his duffel bag over to him with his foot. He opened it and began to pull his clothes out.

"Fitting in?" Malcolm heard from the doorway. He looked to see Minna had cracked it open and walked in.

"Yeah right. I'm fitting in like a square peg in a round hole." He said harshly to her. "You said I would get a race, I only followed you because you said Yeager would race me." He said.

"Why wouldn't she?" Minna asked.

"She said she doesn't race amateurs. I'm no amateur. I'm the fastest boy on earth. And I'm going after her record." He said.

"I don't think she meant it like that. She was probably fooling around." Minna said.

"She doesn't even know who I am. I have no record that proceeds me. Every time I'm in the news reporters never bothered to get my name. I was never taken seriously, even the other day that man announcing me had no idea who I was. How do you think that makes me feel?" He asked her.

"Shirley didn't even know who you were… I should have explained it to her." She said feeling bad that he set the boy up for failure with the girl by accident.

"I can go straighten everything out." Minna said.

"Don't bother. It doesn't matter anymore. She is on a whole different level from me… its better she think I'm just some other guy… some amateur." He said sadly. He tossed the shirt he was unpacking onto the bed and walked out leaving Minna behind.

"Come on Malcolm, don't do- what's this." Minna asked herself as she looked down at a scrap book that was on Shirley's desk. She picked it up and opened to the first page. It was filled with news articles from all of Shirley's races. Minna had seen Yoshika and Lynne looking through the book once before but never looked through it herself. There were a large amount of pages with articles about herself but after some time the pages went blank because there weren't any other photos to fill them. Minna didn't think much of the book and skimmed through the empty pages to be sure it was finished. As she did her eyes caught a glimpse of something among the empty pages. There were more articles on a farther page into the book, as if they were hidden there because people normally wouldn't look that far. She opened to it to see a familiar sight. There were clipped newspaper articles about the blue bird in the papers. Stories about how fast the vehicle was able to go and how it was used to break so many records. Sadly as she read over the articles there was the lack of Malcolm's name among the stories. For some reason the reporters showed a lack of interest in who the driver was. Shirley on the other hand was very interested in who he was. There were scribbles in pen circling images of the car. Footnotes about where she might be able to find the driver and who it could potentially be. It was like Shirley was trying to solve a mystery.

"You can't be serious. She has been looking for him this long and he comes right to her looking for a race." Minna says to herself. She sees that this could be her chance to make things right with Malcolm. She rushes back to her office and grabs the paperwork that Shirley filled out. The paperwork was a vehicle request for liberion about a P-51 mustang. She filled out another set of documents and attached it to the letter.

"Now all we have to do is wait. Malcolm will need this if he is going to race" She says to herself as she puts the paper into an envelope.


End file.
